(After many years of painstaking restoration XA-NAR will have a prominent place in the Museum of Flight’s future air transportation wing. Ralph Bufano, Museum Chief Executive, has called it the most important aircraft in the air transport collection.)

Welcome to the de Havilland Comet Mk 4C restoration update.

We are having excellent progress as we work through the many layers of corrosion and damage caused by almost two decades of neglect. The damage is so extensive that many original components were beyond the reach of the most creative restoration efforts. Therefore, we often have to reconstruct ‘from scratch’ many complex parts of the aircraft.

Work under Project Manager JIM GOODALL is proceeding at an accelerating pace.

This table summarizes the many tasks well underway or already completed:

Most recently, with completion of 99% of the cockpit instrumentation and installation of the radio racks and radios, we have been working our way aft. The aft radio rack covers are being fabricated using as a reference the excellent G-APDB pictures taken by Nigel Cornwell during a recent Duxford trip. (The original panels are missing.)

Another contributor, Bill Catlin and his wife Bette, recently drove their van all of the way to Chicago to bring us a magnificent model Comet built to the 1” = 1’ scale. This huge 9˝-foot wingspan model, which had hung from the ceiling of a model shop near O’Hare since the early 1960’s, has been converted by Jim Goodall from the Mk4 to the Mk4C configuration to match our XA-NAR restoration aircraft. It will be finished in Mexicana livery complete with Golden Aztec / CMA decals to show visitors how our full-scale exhibit will look. The “MEXICANA”, “AZTECA D’ ORO”, “CMA” and “XA-NAR” decals will use Mexicana graphics scanned from the original Comet introduction literature.

Two volunteers are about 80% done in reconstruction of the starboard aft toilet bulkhead. This is a massive job, as advanced rot in the original wooden bulkhead (supporting the sink, mirror, lamps and cabinets) necessitated its complete remanufacture using fresh plywood. An exact reproduction of the original is gradually emerging from the wood chips and many bits and pieces of plumbing.

Corroded and unsound floor beams under the aft 12 feet of the main cabin have been removed and replaced with identical beams taken from XV-814. Thanks to this excellent effort, we now have a stable floor support. For the first time in about 4 years, we are able to walk directly into the aircraft from the main cabin door without leaping a three-foot gap.

Outside the hangar, before cold weather closed our efforts down, work in preparation for wing removal was well along. All of the wing-to-fuselage transition fairings have been removed. On the port side, the engine exhaust ducts and the outboard thrust reverser assembly have been removed. The inboard flaps have also been taken off for restoration.

Lower fuselage interior assemblies have been stripped out in preparation for removing the belly skin and bead blasting the entire area to remove corrosion. Two replacement skins (about 140 square feet) are now in place, but we believe that the entire belly of the aircraft will eventually have to be re-skinned. To this end, we have requested quotes on about 750 feet of longitudinal stringer channels

Ground fuel management instrument panels in both wheel wells have been removed, restored and await restoration of the well bays before installation.

Our cockpit seats have been sent out to an aircraft upholstery supplier. We are now awaiting a position on their production schedule to get them covered.

Custom fabrics, upholstery, and floor coverings are specified, and will be ordered in the near future.

Finally, a program note. Capt. Peter Duffey (retired Comet, etc. pilot) and I were interviewed for a History channel program which will include brief segment on the Comet’s history and our restoration. The show will air on June 24th, and should give our project much needed additional exposure.

Also, mark your calendar for Saturday, May 17th. There will be a Restoration Center Open House – Fundraiser for the Comet. The British-American Chamber of Commerce, Rolls-Royce, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Museum will sponsor this event. It will include light refreshments, finger food, wine and beer, etc. Hope you can make it!